MEN’S TENNIS CONTINUES TO ROLL, EASILY HANDLES SANTA CLARA

3/31/2009

SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Despite playing for the fifth time in five days, Sacramento State won all three doubles matches, and five of the six singles matches on the way to a 6-1 victory over Santa Clara in a non-conference men’s tennis match Tuesday evening at the Degheri Tennis Center.

The Hornets have now won 12 of their last 13 matches, and improved to 13-5 this season. Sacramento State also completed its five matches in five days stretch with a 4-1 record despite playing three of those competitions in Boise last Friday and Saturday. The Hornets are now 5-3 on the road, 5-0 at home and 3-2 at neutral sites. Making the team’s run even more impressive is the Hornets’ roster features zero seniors and seven of the nine players are underclassmen, including three freshmen and four sophomores.

Santa Clara dropped to 3-8 overall and 3-3 on its home courts.

All five of Sacramento State’s victorious singles matches this evening came in straight sets, comprised of wins from sophomore Kiryl Harbatsiuk (7-5, 6-4 at No. 1 singles), junior Anton Stryhas (6-0, 6-4 at No. 2), freshman Jason Smith (6-0, 6-2 at No. 3), junior Holden Ching (6-4, 6-2 at No. 5) and sophomore Artur Klimenka (6-1, 6-2 at No. 6). The team’s only loss of the evening came at the No. 4 spot in the lineup where freshman Marko Starcevic fell to the Broncos’ Kenzo Hirakawa-Wong, 6-1, 4-6, and 11-9 in the super tiebreaker.

Multiple Hornets have good sized winning streaks in singles play, including Stryhas (10 straight wins), Klimenka (six straight), Smith (four straight) and Harbatsiuk (three straight). Harbatsiuk (14-4) and Stryhas (11-4) are now a combined 25-8 in singles play despite playing in the top two spots of the Hornets’ singles lineup all season.

In doubles play, Sacramento State swept all three matches, comprised of victories from the tandems of Stryhas/Harbatsiuk (8-4 at No. 1), Ching/Starcevic (8-5 at No. 2) and Smith/Klimenka (8-1 at No. 3).

The Hornets won’t have much time to rest as the team is back in action in two days (Thursday, April 2) when it hits the road for a doubleheader against a pair of Big Sky opponents. Sacramento State will play Weber State at 8 a.m. PDT in Ogden, Utah, before a two-hour van ride to Pocatello, Idaho, where the team will play Idaho State at 2 p.m. PDT.

Sacramento State vs Santa Clara
Mar 31, 2009 at Santa Clara, Calif.
(Degheri Tennis Center)

Sacramento State 6, Santa Clara 1

Singles competition
1. HARBATSIUK, Kiryl (SAC) def. Kyle Dandan (SCU) 7-5, 6-4
2. STRYHAS, Anton (SAC) def. Jay Wong (SCU) 6-0, 6-4
3. SMITH, Jason (SAC) def. Tommy Hicks (SCU) 6-0, 6-2
4. Kenzo Hirakawa-Wong (SCU) def. STARCEVIC, Marko (SAC) 6-1, 4-6, 11-9
5. CHING, Holden (SAC) def. Charlie Burke (SCU) 6-4, 6-2
6. KLIMENKA, Artur (SAC) def. John Iwanski (SCU) 6-1, 6-2

Doubles competition
1. STRYHAS, Anton/HARBATSIUK, Kiryl (SAC) def. Kenzo Hirakawa-Wong/Jay Wong (SCU) 8-4
2. CHING, Holden/STARCEVIC, Marko (SAC) def. Kyle Dandan/Tommy Hicks (SCU) 8-5
3. SMITH, Jason/KLIMENKA, Artur (SAC) def. Charlie Burke/John Iwanski (SCU) 8-1

Match Notes:
Sacramento State 13-5
Santa Clara 3-8
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (3,6,5,2,4,1)